National Nutrition Agency: Regions with High Stunting Rates to be Priority for Free Nutritious Meal Programme

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Sudaryono, has emphasised that the government will prioritise the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme in regions with high stunting rates as an effort to accelerate the handling of national nutritional issues.

“As I mentioned yesterday regarding 3T areas (frontier, outermost, and least developed), we are scanning based on Ministry of Health data. The specific areas have been identified, including provinces, regencies, sub-districts, down to the villages. We are currently synchronising this data so that priority areas can be focused on immediately, especially regions with high stunting rates,” Sudaryono stated during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

According to him, the determination of priority areas is based on data collected by the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) and is currently being synchronised by the BGN.

He noted that, in addition to Papua and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), there are several regencies in Sumatra and Java that also record quite high stunting rates, necessitating rapid nutritional intervention through the MBG Programme.

“It is not only in Papua, but also in NTT and several other regions, including findings in several regencies in Java where stunting rates are indeed quite high,” said Sudaryono.